Vent camouflage wrap

ABSTRACT

A covering for use in combination with plumbing vent stacks and other pipe like structures protruding through the roof or walls of a house or building. The covering allows for vents to be camouflaged to blend in with the background material such as roofing. The background material is scanned and then printed onto covering material such as self adhesive labels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the construction industry it is common to have a number of vent pipes coming from the inside of a structure such as a house or building to the outside. Some common vents include plumbing vents, gas furnace or other heater vents, gas water heater vents and gas dryer vents. Many of these vents are pipe like structures, some protrude through the wall of the structure while many come through the roof.

One common vent is the vent stack for plumbing. This vent is required for proper operation of the plumbing within the structure. In residential construction this particular vent is often times made from the same PVC or copper pipe used for the structure drain plumbing. This vent is commonly installed through the roof of the structure. A hole is cut in the roof of the house and a pipe section connected to the plumbing is stuck through the hole. Often a commercially available collar or flashing is used to seal the hole from rain. This flashing ties into the structure's roofing, with sections of roofing often overlapping the flashing to prevent leaks and to give the roof a more finished appearance

In the field, it is currently common practice that the actual vent stack is a piece of white PVC pipe or other pipe that is visible from the street. Even in expensive homes it is not unusual to see a piece of unfinished PVC pipe sticking out of the roof. This white pipe shows up and looks very poor against the roof, which is typically finished in either a dark asphalt type shingle or in cedar shakes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention solves the limitations of the raw section of PVC pipe showing from the exterior of the structure. The current invention provides a product and a method of camouflaging the PVC pipe used for the plumbing vent or of camouflaging other vents through the roof or walls of a structure. A method is provided of matching the roofing or siding material for transfer to an easy to apply covering for the pipe extension. A covering is provided that can be applied to the PVC pipe on site or can be sold with commercially available vent flashings and seals. The covering could be applied to existing vent stacks or it can be placed on the vent pipe prior to installation through the flashing.

In addition to vent stacks the covering could be applied to any structure protruding through the roof or walls of a residence.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 Shows a view of the device as installed on a roof

FIG. 2 Shows details of the covering label

FIG. 3 shows the structure of a vent pipe using the covering label

FIG. 4 shows the layers of the label

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of the method of creating the covering

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DEVICE

FIG. 1 shows a basic view of the camouflage covered vent stack (10) as installed. The system uses a conventional vent stack PVC pipe (12). The system passes through a structural surface (20) such as a conventional roof. The roof can have texture such as grains (114) an lines (116). A conventional flashing (30) includes a seal (32) that the vent pipe (10) passes through. Other vents might use a shield to prevent leaking.

FIG. 2 shows details of the covering as applied to a section of PVC pipe (12).

The covering includes camouflage markings (14) and (16) that match the surface markings (1 14,116) of a conventional roof. In this example the small markings would give the appearance of the grains (114) commonly found in asphalt roofing, the lines (16) give the appearance of areas of linear shading (116) often found in roofing. The specific markings are created by a process of scanning a surface to be matched and then saving the results of the scan as a digital image which can then be printed out on an adhesive label or directly the markings can be printed directly to sections of PVC pipe. Any background material could be matched including vinyl siding and cedar shake roofing.

FIG. 3 shows the vent pipe (10) being prepared for installation. A plain section of PVC pipe (12) is wrapped near one end with a self adhesive sticker (40). The sticker (40) is backed with an adhesive layer and the front includes a printed film containing an image that matches the background material to be matched. In this application the pipe (12) is the last section of the vent stack and may be 8 feet long or more so the camouflage is only needed on that portion which will extend through the roof.

FIG. 4 shows the layers of the label (40). A surface layer (42) is printed to match a given background such as roofing. The match could include matching color and shading of the background material as well as using color or shading to match background material features such as texture, sheen and curvature. The matching process can be digitally enhanced to achieve a desired result. An adhesive layer (44) is backed with a wax paper layer (46) that allows for easy removal of the adhesive backed printed label at a construction job site. The label (40) could be packaged and sold in combination with bundles of roofing material, or siding (not shown). Indicia (48) can be printed on the surface layer (42) or on the peel off wax paper layer (46). Indicia (48) can include instructions for installing the label (40) or vent stack, indicia (48) can also be lines indicating a depth of installation or cut lines indicating lines along which the label (40) could be trimmed for installation.

FIG. 5 shows a flow chart of a process of creating the camouflage image. The method includes the steps of scanning a surface to be matched (100) to create an image file. This scanning step could occur at the manufacturing source of a roofing material or at a construction site and could be achieved by a variety of digital means including the use of a scanner or digital camera (not shown) for example. That image file could then be saved (110) electronically. The image could then be modified (120) as required. The modification (120) step would be to alter the actual saved images in ways that would aid in the camouflage effect for example by changing the shade of color slightly over the length of the label so that it is not one single color. This modified image can then be saved (130) and printed on to the face of a label (40) or directly to pipe sections.

In application, the camouflage label (40) can be created either to match a new material, such as roofing, and can be sold along side this new material, or the camouflage label (40) can be custom created to match an existing material. During the creation process (FIG. 5), the image modification step (1 20) might include changes in color or shading, it might also include having indicia (48) including instruction and lines printed on the face of the label to aid in the installation. For example, a line might be printed on the label showing how far it should protrude through the vent stack seal (32).

Though not shown it would also be possible to print the camouflage image directly to cylindrical sections specifically to be used as the exposed vent stack portion. Further, though a process of taking a digital image is shown to create the print image, the printed image could be created by other processes. 

1. A camouflage vent and structural surface combination comprising; a cylindrical vent pipe having a cylindrical surface, said vent pipe having a first end located inside a said structural surface and a second end located outside said structural surface; said cylindrical vent passing through said structural surface; a label having a printed camouflage image upon its label surface matching said structural surface, said label applied to said cylindrical surface of said second end of said cylindrical vent pipe such that the second end of said cylindrical vent pipe is covered by said label.
 2. The camouflage vent of claim 1 wherein said printed camouflage image is a digital image.
 3. A camouflage vent adapted for use with a structural surface; a cylindrical vent pipe having a cylindrical surface, said vent pipe having a first end adapted to be located inside said a structural surface and a second end adapted to be located outside said structural surface; a printed camouflage image covering said second end, said printed camouflage image matches said structural surface.
 4. The camouflage vent of claim 3 wherein said camouflage image matches a roofing material.
 5. The camouflage vent of claim 3 wherein the image is printed on a label that is applied to said second end.
 6. The camouflage vent of claim 3 wherein said vent is used as a vent for a plumbing system.
 7. The camouflage vent of claim 5 wherein said label includes installation instructions printed on it
 8. The camouflage vent of claim 5 wherein said label is self adhesive.
 9. A camouflage vent kit for use in camouflaging a vent through a structural surface said kit including: a self adhesive label having an image matching the a structural surface material printed thereon, said label applicable to a vent and including indicia on said label to aid in installation of the label on said vent.
 10. The camouflage vent kit of claim 9 wherein said label indida includes installation instructions.
 11. The camouflage vent kit of claim 9 wherein the image matching a structural surface is an image of roofing.
 12. The camouflage vent kit of claim 9 wherein said vent is a cylindrical plumbing vent
 13. The camouflage vent kit of claim 9 wherein said image is printed from a modified digital image of said structural surface.
 14. The camouflage vent kit of claim 9 wherein said image is printed from a modified digital image of roofing material.
 15. The camouflage vent kit of claim 9 wherein the surface is vinyl siding.
 16. The camouflage vent kit of claim 9 wherein the surface is cedar shake. 